Donald Trump vows: ‘We will be back’, leaves ‘very generous’ note for Joe Biden
Donald and Melania Trump have arrived back in Mar-a-Lago but not before they left behind personal letters for Joe and Jill Biden in the White House.
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The now former president Donald Trump left a “very generous” note for new President Joe Biden before departing the White House.
A Trump spokesman confirmed Mr Trump left a letter in the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, a traditional gesture from the outgoing Commander in Chief to his successor.
The outgoing first lady Melania also left a written message for the new First Lady Dr Jill Biden, while former Vice-President Mike Pence left a note for new VP Kamala Harris.
The spokesman said the contents of the note were “just between Mr Trump and Mr Biden”.
But hours after he was inaugurated as America’s 46th President, Mr Biden said the note President Donald Trump left on the Resolute Desk was “very generous.”
“I won’t talk about it until I talk to him, but it was very generous,” Mr Biden told reporters.
The note-passing tradition started with President Ronald Reagan in 1989 when he left a message on the Resolute Desk for George H.W. Bush telling him that he was praying for his success.
Mr Bush did the same for Bill Clinton in 1992, infamously scrawling: “I am rooting hard for you.”
It’s unclear what wishes Mr Trump left for Mr Biden but it was the only handover between the two commanders in chief after the outgoing president declined to attend the inauguration.
He was the first president in 152 years not to attend the inauguration of his successor.
Meanwhile, The now former President of the United States, Donald Trump, has arrived back in Florida after declaring to supporters: “We will be back in some form.”
Mr Trump and his family boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington DC early Wednesday local time to return to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
He left the White House for the final time as president about 8am local time with wife Melania Trump to board the Marine One helicopter.
In his final words to supporters at Joint Base Andrews, he said: “So just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form. Have a nice life.”
About 500 fans turned out in the icy wind, standing in a fenced off area in front of the stage at Joint Base Andrews. Half of the section remained glaringly empty.
An Air Force band played Hail to the Chief and Mr Trump received a 21-gun salute before he spoke for about 10 minutes, mostly listing his administration’s achievements and claiming success.
“This has been an incredible four years,” Mr Trump said, with daughter Ivanka Trump choking back tears as she looked on.
“It’s been something very special. We’ve accomplished a lot. I will always fight for you.
“We will be back in some form,” Mr Trump said, after the Wall Street Journal reported he had been in talks in the final days of his presidency about forming a new political party called the Patriot Party.
Mr Trump did not address Mr Biden by name but said he wished the new administration “great luck and great success”.
White House aides had prepared a speech for Mr Trump that included references to the incoming administration and included more gracious language about a peaceful transition, according to CNN.
But Mr Trump discarded the speech, and teleprompters were removed from the stage before he arrived at Joint Base Andrews.
A source said the decision was made after Mr Trump read the remarks at the White House.
Mr Trump was at Mar-a-Lago when Mr Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the USA shortly before noon local time (AEDT 4am).
The former president was welcomed by crowds as he prepared to start a new life in Florida.
Mr Trump was seen giving a thumbs up from the back of car as he was greeted by flag-waving and cheering supporters in the Sunshine State, with fans carrying placards reading Trump is “still my President” and “Trump won”.
Mrs Trump had a change of clothing during the flight south and emerged from Air Force One in an orange-emblazoned Gucci dress said to be worth $A5000, in stark contrast to the black Chanel jacket and Dolce & Gabbana dress she wore while leaving the White House.
Neither Melania nor Donald Trump wore masks while boarding or disembarking from Air Force One.
Mr Trump is the only US President in history to be twice impeached, and leaves behind a nation in chaos and turmoil, 400,000 Americans dead of coronavirus, millions unemployed, and the Republican party losing both their president and their majority in the Senate.
His last major public appearance was a speech to the mob that later invaded the Capitol building which left five people dead and the nation reeling.
Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office at the very spot where the pro-Trump rioters clashed with police two weeks ago before storming Congress in a deadly insurrection.
Mr Trump broke days of silence Tuesday with a prerecorded farewell video address in which — for the first time — he asked Americans to “pray” for the success of the incoming administration.
But Mr Trump did not publicly or personally congratulate Mr Biden.
TRUMP’S SHOCK LIST OF PARDONS
With just hours to go in office, US President Donald Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 commutations.
Those granted clemency include former White House strategist Steve Bannon, rapper Lil Wayne, rapper Kodak Black, the Trump Organisation’s longtime chief financial officer Elliott Broidy and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Broidy, a top fundraiser for Mr Trump and the Republican Party, pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws. He has been pardoned.
Disgraced former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had been sentenced to 28 years in prison after being found guilty of mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering. he has been pardoned.
Lil Wayne, a Trump supporter, pleaded guilty in December to a federal weapons charge after he carried a handgun from California to Florida on his private jet.
Lil Wayne is barred under federal law from possessing firearms due to past convictions.
Lil Wayne has not yet been convicted but the charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
In October, Wayne tweeted a picture of himself with Trump following what he called a “great meeting” with the president. He has been pardoned.
Mr Bannon, the former White House chief strategist charged with defrauding political donors, has been granted clemency.
White House officials told The New York Times that the pardon was a pre-emptive move that would effectively wipe away the charges against Mr Bannon, should he be convicted.
Mr Bannon was arrested in August by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on charges related to the money raised to promote the construction of Mr Trump’s proposed wall on the US-Mexico border.
Sholam Weiss was convicted of stealing $125m ($A162m) from an insurance company’s elderly policyholders and was sentenced to 845 years in prison.
Trump lawyers from his first impeachment, Alan Dershowitz and Jay Sekulow, sent letters to the White House in support of Weiss. His sentence has been commuted.
Anthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer who pleaded guilty to stealing secret technology related to self-driving cars from the company before becoming the head of Uber’s rival unit, has been pardoned.
Kodak Black was sentenced to 46 months in prison on federal weapons charges in 2019 after admitting that he falsified information on federal forms to buy four firearms.
Earlier, limousines were spotted outside a prison in Fort Worth, Texas, where Joseph Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic from Netflix’s Tiger King) is locked up on 17 federal charges of animal abuse.
His lawyer, Eric Love, told BBC News he was “confident” Exotic would be freed, but the Tiger King star did not make Mr Trump's final list.
Australian and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently jailed in London and fighting US attempts to extradite him to face espionage charges, was originally thought to be on Mr Trump’s radar for a pardon, but did not make the cut.
The pardons and commutations mark one of Mr Trump’s final acts as leader before US President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.
Originally published as Donald Trump vows: ‘We will be back’, leaves ‘very generous’ note for Joe Biden
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